How to grow peas

I think my favorite vegetable to grow is peas! They are also one of the easiest vegetables to grow and generally produce well from spring into the hot parts of summer. One vine will produce dozens of pea pods! Plus since they grow up not out, they don't take up a lot of ground space.

I grow sugar snap peas, snow peas and regular shelling peas. Even though they are different varieties they all pretty much have the same care so this guide will help you with growing all different types of peas!

It's crazy how many different types of peas are out there! So lets talk about growing them.

How to grow tomato plants in containers

The one good thing about the big shut down a few years back is that so many people are more interested in growing their own food! Since a large number of people live in apartments or just don't have a yard to plant in, container gardening has become a way they can still grow some of their own food...even with limited space!

If you would like to grow some of your own food in containers then tomatoes are the perfect plant to start with. As long as you have sunlight, tomatoes can be grown anywhere.

Growing tomatoes in containers is not limited to people with a lack of gardening space though. Plenty of home gardeners grow their vegetables in containers, even when they have free space in the backyard.

There are many reasons for container gardening, but we grow tomatoes in containers mostly for convenience, control, and flexibility. Also if you have a problem with deer in your garden, putting your plants on your porch in containers can circumvent that!

Not many deer are comfortable walking up onto your porch! Nor are rabbits which can really damage a traditional garden! 

Growing tomatoes in containers is not too different from growing tomatoes in the outdoor soil. Like planting in the ground, it's best to raise young tomato seedlings carefully indoors until they're strong enough for transplant.

This gives them a few extra weeks to grow instead of waiting to plant seeds when the soil is warm enough.

Vegetables That Grow Well In Partial Sun

My garden started as mostly full sun, but because it's situated approximately 20' from the edge of the woods, it takes awhile for the sun to get to it in the morning. 11 am to be exact.

The definition of full sun is at least 6 hours of direct sun per day, partial sun is 4-6 hours of direct sun per day, partial shade is about 1-4 hours of direct sun that isn't the hot afternoon sun.

From the second the sun comes over the trees, till about 7 pm in summer, the garden gets sun.

That should be all there is to it, but because of plant placing there are a few areas that don't get as much sun as others. For instance, since my tomato plants grow to be about 4' tall, anything planted behind them doesn't get as much sun.

Asparagus creates the same problem. 

When planning my garden I need to take this into account. Also, over the years the trees in the woods grew taller and they now block more sun. Some of my formerly full sun areas now have a whole lot more shade!

We talked about figuring out how much sun your garden gets in How to Make a Sun Map for your Garden. If this is your first time gardening in your location (or you're moving the garden plot) you'll want to make a sun map first.

If you've been using that spot for a few years you're probably familiar with the way the sun moves across your property during the growing season.

Knowing which parts of your garden has less sun, or which plants will block the sun once they're full grown is essential to planning a garden where all your plants get the correct amount of sunlight for optimal growth! 

Have you grown ground cherries yet?

I talk a lot about growing vegetables and herbs but did you know that I grow quite a bit of fruit too? One of my favorite things to grow every year is the ground cherry! It's basically a small yellow cherry with a tropical flavor that grows on a low bush. Oh, and it grows inside a paper lantern!

The first time I heard of ground cherries I was intrigued. They are related to the tomato (another fruit) and have tiny seeds inside, not a pit like regular cherries.

They have a mild almost tropical fruit flavor and they are wrapped in a papery husk that needs peeled back before eating. As mentioned above, they look a lot like paper lanterns.

I first started growing ground cherry (Physalis) because they are so darn cool looking. I still grow them because not only are they delicious, but each plant provides baskets upon baskets of them...and they bear fruit for months on end!

They are an annual but will bear fruit all the way up till the first frost.

They're one of the fruits I grew to sneak some extra fruits and vegetables into my family's diet. It worked! They absolutely love ground cherries!

There are several different varieties but I like to grow one called Aunt Molly's ground cherry.

How to control squash bugs in the garden

I don't normally have a problem with squash bugs. I grow zucchini every single year and can't recall ever seeing more than a couple of squash bugs here and there, over the years.

Occasionally I'll have a wilted leaf and I'll check and if I see any eggs I'll squish, remove or otherwise kill them. That's always been enough to keep squash bugs at bay.

Till this year.

It started a few weeks ago when I went to pick a zucchini from the garden around dusk. There were squash bugs of various ages on it.

I had never seen that many before but I very carefully picked the zucchini then submerged it into a bucket of water that was sitting nearby, washing off the bugs and leaving them to drown.

I checked for eggs the next day but didn't see very many and removed the ones I did see. I then promptly forgot about it till a few days ago when I once again went to get a zucchini in the evening.

This time it was already dark out and I took a flashlight and the zucchini I wanted to pick was covered with squash bugs!

Why are my tomatoes rotting on the vine?

One of the most annoying things to happen to a tomato grower is when it's so close to harvest and all of a sudden your tomatoes start to rot from the bottom. Ugh! Luckily that is a very definite condition called blossom end rot and it has a pretty simple cure.

Unfortunately you have no way of knowing if your plants are going to get blossom end rot until they start rotting, and it can take a little bit of time to fix.

There are two steps to fixing end rot in tomatoes and if you use them both at the same time, things should turn around fairly quickly.

What are the easiest food crops to grow?

I have heard from a lot of new gardeners this year who are disappointed in the way things are going. Unfortunately gardening hasn't been as easy as some have anticipated.

In my little trouble shooting sessions I'm finding out that many new gardeners started out with plants that are prone to pests, disease or other problems. I get it, you want to grow what you like to eat. I do the same thing.

Unfortunately, some plants are super prone to bugs and disease. It's hard enough to take care of a garden, but add powdery mildew or vine borers on top of that and it can get to be too much!

Today I wanted to talk about some of the easiest to grow crops to get new gardeners started out on the right foot! Herbs and edible flowers tend to be the easiest to grow, though obviously vegetables will give you the most food per plant.

I'll include them all on this list.

Hydroponic gardening for beginners

I've known what hydroponics are for a long time but I only started experimenting with it a few years ago. It started with a gift. I was given a small self contained hydroponic garden for Xmas. I quickly found out that small scale hydroponics systems for inside your house can produce fresh vegetables and herbs quite well. They are especially useful during the winter. 

I also found out that a few things I expected didn't quite work out as planned. Of course my experience is limited to a few years with a tabletop hydroponic system, which is by no means the only way to use hydroponics in your home, but it is the easiest. 

The system I used is called the Aerogarden. I'll link to it a little lower on the page so you can take a peek, but first lets gets started talking about hydroponics.

How to grow vegetables in containers vs the ground

Last year I did an experiment in container gardening. I had planted 4 varieties of tomato plants, 2 of each plant. One of each variety was planted in the garden and the other in a container.

We all know that you can grow certain vegetables in containers, but I intended to discover if container grown tomatoes produced as much fruit, less or even more than the same plants grown in the ground.

The experiment was going better than I expected all through summer. Most of the plants were producing equal to or better than the ones in the garden, with the exception of one variety. 

I had been weighing each fruit I harvested and had a running total going for every plant. Then I moved them off the patio for my sons going away party and forgot to move them back that night. 

The deer had destroyed them by morning. *face palm* Thankfully I had plenty of data collected already to call this experiment a success!

When planted in a similar location and cared for properly, container plants can produce the same or even better than ones in the ground.

There are a few differences in caring for container gardens though, and not knowing these differences can be the reason container grown plants do not thrive.

8 Flowers you need in your vegetable garden

Many people plant flowers in their vegetable garden. There are lots of reasons to do this from companion planting, attracting pollinators to them just being pretty! I've been doing it for as long as I've gardened.

Honestly, I never liked marigolds all that much, but my Pappap said you had to plant them in the garden so I have for the last 30 years. He was right!

Many gardeners find that they can discourage harmful pests, without losing the beneficial allies by just adding flowers. Flowers also add visual interest because vegetable plants are mostly green.

There is honestly not a lot of color in cucumber, bean, pea or broccoli plants! (just to name a few)

Planting flowers amid the tomatoes is a good way to dip your toes into the pool of companion planting.

Companion planting is placing different plants close together that enhance each other's growth, discourage pests and diseases, or have some other beneficial effect.

Companion planting can be an important part of an integrated pest management system.

Vegetables that grow in under 60 days

Every year I get asked "which vegetables will be ready for harvest earliest?" by new gardeners. I get it. Gardening is a waiting game and it's nice to see results quickly, especially when you're just starting.

Many vegetables take 3 months or more and it can be frustrating! I have compiled a list of vegetables and fruits that will be ready to harvest in under two months.

These dates are calculated from the day they sprout from seed, or in the case of strawberries, break dormancy.

If you have a garden center or nursery near by and decide to buy your plants already started, you'll be slightly ahead of the timeline...usually by at least 2 weeks. 

Unfortunately most people I've talked to aren't expecting to plant till mid April though, so you'll be on almost the same timeline if you start seeds right now.

You're going to have to read tags or seed packages when choosing the different seeds to buy, as each one can have a different time frame.

If you're new to home gardening varieties simply means the group of plants within a species that has one or more distinguishing characteristics. 

While looking for a type of tomato or carrot, one might be looking for a variety that has a certain texture, flavor or grow time. In this case, you'll be looking at grow time when selecting your seeds.

For instance Early Girl tomatoes only take about 50 days for the first fruits to be ready. Brandywine tomatoes take 90 days. As you can see that leaves a large margin for error if you just grab a pack of tomato seeds without reading it! 

Generally that is nothing more than a little annoying, you just wait a few more weeks for those plants to produce. 

How to grow Love Lies Bleeding Amaranth

I have been growing Amaranth for about 8 years now. I prefer Amaranthus caudatus the Love Lies Bleeding variety for it's long ropes of flowers and seeds. I first starting growing it as a feed source for the chickens, but I found it so beautiful and easy to grow that I have continued to grow it every year. It makes a striking centerpiece for my garden!

The love lies bleeding variety of Amaranth is an annual that grows 3' - 4' in height. It is possible to grow as tall as 8', but I've personally never seen that. It's characterized by the long ropes of blood red flowers and red tinged stems with green leaves.

It grows easily from seed and prefers full sun.

Both the leaves and seeds of the Amaranth plant are edible.

I kind of hesitate to admit this but...I have never eaten the seeds or the leaves of the amaranth plants that I've grown. Crazy, I know since I am one of those 'eat the weeds' people.

Somehow this plant got pigeonholed in my garden as a animal feed plant and an ornamental. 

I promise I'll try it this year! Till then though...this is how I grow amaranth.

11 garden mistakes that will cost you $$$

It's almost time to plant the garden! Can you tell I'm excited? I love this time of year when I'm deciding what to plant this time and looking back on my past harvests.

Unfortunately I've made some gardening mistakes over the years, and it's cost me some serious cash. I did learn from my mistakes though so that's what I want to talk about today.

First though, I need to tell you the story of the Summer of Kohlrabi. I bring this up now because it was a costly mistake, and because I mention it in my post on deciding what you should plant in your garden.

That's a pretty popular post this time of year and is getting read a lot. 

A few different people have asked me about this story recently, so here it is: Skip down to the bold type if you want to just get to the garden mistakes! 

Crops you can plant in August

My garden just didn't meet my expectations this year. I tried to get everything planted on time but life got in the way and I literally only got half done. Now it's August and what I planted is doing great...but I didn't plant as much as last year! That's ok, that just means I have enough space to plant a fall garden!

I don't usually plant very much in fall, in fact I'm normally quite burned out by now, so planting the whole garden in August is a brand new adventure for me! I live in zone 5. Actually I'm considered zone 5B. 

Everything I'm planting in my garden is suitable for zones 5 & 6. Most of these will do well in zones 4 & 7 too, though it gets a little iffy if you get too far away from here!

When deciding what to plant in August, the first thing you'll want to do is determine your first frost date. This post can help you figure out your date. It's based off the history of the average first frost date for your zone.

Since I'm smack dab in the middle of Pittsburgh and Erie, I'll need to guess. My first frost should be somewhere between Oct 17 & 29. That gives me at least 60 days.

Obviously I want to plant things that will mature around 60 days or less, can tolerate cooler temperatures and maybe even some crops that are frost resistant once established. Many of these can be planted in containers which would be convenient if they needed to be brought in on a frosty night!

How to grow Japanese white egg eggplant

In the summer I told you about the cucamelons I grow and how much I love them. This was was my second year growing them. Every year I choose something brand new to grow....and the weirder the better! This year my weird plant was Japanese white egg eggplant. 

I chose to grow Japanese white egg eggplant (Solanum melongena) this year because their so darn cute! Plus, I really wanted to try a different eggplant to see if I could get the kids to eat it. They basically look like chicken eggs growing on a plant, they even hang by one end like a mini egg tree. So...an eggplant that looks like an egg! 

These little eggplants are great to cook with and have a mild, more subtle flavor then regular eggplant. These are great in stir frys and baba ganoush. 

How to grow cucamelon

Every year I try to grow something in my garden that we have never had before. It gives us a chance to try something new that we normally wouldn't have access to. There are so many cool fruits and vegetables out there, that I just have to try as many as possible! 2016 was the year I decided to grow Cucamelon (Melothria scabra).

Melothria scabra is a vine with Ivy-like leaves and grape sized fruit that looks like mini watermelons but taste kind of like a cucumber. Cucamelons are also known as mouse melon and Mexican Sour Gherkin. 

They're common name in Spanish is “sandita” (little watermelon). They're are really easy to grow and they produce fruit for months!

Cucamelons originally come from Central America. They are fast growing once established and require very little care. Even though cucamelons are pretty common in the southwest, they are still fairly rare up north. 

While cucamelons may look like some kind of fancy new hybrid, they are not. They are non GMO and have a long history of use. 

When growing less common plants you'll need to start from seed as your local plant nursery will probably not have cucamelons. You probably won't be able to find seeds in stores either, but there are several sources online. 

I ordered these seeds online since I couldn't find them in stores. They were not expensive and I had a high germination rate.

The easiest way to grow potatoes

I grow potatoes every year and have honestly never started them this early before! However, I have a bag of potatoes that have sprouted so severely that I decided they are just asking to be planted. So, I'm planting them now...even though it's only April. 

I'm also planting these potatoes in feed bags because that is the easiest way to plant potatoes that I have ever tried! I love this method for several reasons mostly because I don't have to dig to harvest the potatoes. Also, there's practically no weeding. Plus:

You can plant potatoes anywhere!

That's right! When you're using bags to plant potatoes you can put the bags on your porch, patio, next to the garage or anywhere else even if you don't have a garden space. 

Plus its another way to reuse all those feed bags I have accumulated. You can buy reusable grow bags if you don't already have bags you can use. Or ask a friend with livestock to save you a few bags...we go through a ton!

However, I have never planted grocery store potatoes before so this project may require just a bit of luck...

First of all I should mention that I store my potatoes in an old fashioned Potato and Onion bin. If you don't have one of these you need to read here why I love mine and why you need one! 

Yes, the potatoes did sprout and the onions sometimes do too, but nothing ever rots in that thing! This is one of those old fashioned items that I just don't understand why people quit using.

What should you plant in your garden?

This is a very exciting time of year for gardeners. The boredom of the winter garden is almost over, seed catalogs are out and everyone is pouring over the glossy pictures deciding what to plant in their gardens this year.

Whether you'll have a small garden with just a few veggies for fresh salads or a garden big enough to preserve food for all winter long, you need to ask yourself a few questions before ordering your seeds. 

This is especially important if you become easily enticed by those glossy pictures like I do! (ask me some time about the summer of Kohlrabi *sigh*)

Much as we want to, we can't grow everything though! How do you decide what to grow, and what to take a hard pass on? You'll have to ask yourself a few questions about what you eat, what is a good match for your garden and a few other things.

Here are the 8 questions you need to answer before ordering seeds...

Red Veined Sorrel: A salad and a cure

I really like odd varieties of plants. I don't know what it  is about the more uncommon plants that attract me, but I looked around at my garden and house plants today and realized that I have quite a few. So I would like to talk about some of them starting with a stunning plant called Bloody Dock.

This is one of the easiest plants to grow and like many of my favorite plants, I have been growing it for years. It grows well both indoors and out, so you should be able to grow it no matter what zone you're in. 

Putting in wire tomato cages (without losing your mind!)

Putting in tomato cages has to be one of the most frustrating things I do in the garden. I don't know what makes it worse....the flimsiness of the wire legs or the rocks underneath the soil. Either way every year I feel like I'm going to lose my mind when it's time for this chore! Half the time they didn't get in deep enough and when the plants became too big, they start to knock the cages over.

At that point I end up putting wooden stakes in to try to keep the plant from tipping over. What an ordeal! I mean...this should be fairly simple right? 

• Place the cage over the tomato plant. 
• Press the legs firmly into the soil several inches. 

That's it. Except if you press too hard, the legs bend. If you hit a rock, the legs bend. If you don't get all 3 in the same amount...the legs bend. Sheesh! This year I decided to try something different. I used a fence stake and a mallet to simplify the process.